PEACE ACTION PARTY — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 23

We invite you to our peace party that will take place on Sunday, September 23, 2018 at 1737 Allston Way in Berkeley, 2-4 PM.

The aim of our peace committee is to involve more people, especially more young people, in the peace movement here in the Bay Area and nationwide. To that end, we are planning to hold a peace action day in Sproul Plaza at UC Berkeley concurrent with and in support of United Nations Disarmament Week in the last week of October.

We are building this UC Berkeley action in collaboration with Barbara Lee’s office, UNA Young Professionals, and California Peace Alliance, among other organizations. Assisting us are two youth organizers: Kate Im, a student at UC Berkeley, and community organizer Nelsy Batista.

During our peace action day at UC Berkeley, on October 24, 2018, we will:

Count out the (approximately) $60 billion dollars that Californians will contribute in federal taxes allocated to modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal. We will coordinate this West Coast action with the Move the Nuclear Weapons Money campaign that will count out 1 trillion dollars in New York City, home of the United Nations.
The East Coast peace action, conducted in front of the United Nations and at other publicly visible places in New York City, will count the trillion dollars by hand, using symbolic million dollar bills (illustrated on the right side of this page). Counters will be people of all ages and backgrounds, including celebrities, activists, politicians, UN officials, diplomats, artists, religious leaders, and refugees.Participating in our parallel action on the UC Berkeley campus will be not only students and civic leaders but also representatives of local organizations and agencies (including schools, hospitals, housing construction, mass transportation, etc.) to whom billions of dollars from the nuclear budget could be transferred to meet humane civilian needs. Media will be invited to witness and report on this event.

Advocate that the U.S. sign and ratify the United Nations “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” that was passed (122 countries voted in favor) by the UN General Assembly in July 2017.

Express support for the U.S. Department of Peacebuilding that House Representative Barbara Lee (U.S. Congress H.R. 1111) and Peace Alliance, a nationwide peace advocacy organization, are advocating.

Publicize and recruit for the peace movement here in the Bay Area and nationwide.

Thanks for your support, and please let us know by email — — whether you plan to attend the party on Sunday, Sept. 23.

Peace Committee of the Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club
Peace Caucus of East Bay Democratic Socialists of America
Peace Alliance

With their energy and creativity, young people have an essential role to play as peace builders and peace keepers. To find out more about our October action and how you can get involved, contact us here.

Current U.S. military spending amounts to $700 billion annually and is more than double the total military spending of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea combined!

War using nuclear weapons threatens the very survival of the human species. As well, the paths of war are enormously expensive, aggrandizing resources that are urgently needed to solve the problems facing communities across the nation. Militarism also worsens, through its vast use of petroleum and other natural resources, the environmental crisis that is negatively impacting human communities worldwide.

Front Side of the Symbolic Million Dollar Bill, Depicting War

Backside of the Symbolic Million Dollar Bill, Depicting Peace

We young people want a peaceful, secure future — one in which our lives are not at risk because of nuclear, biological, or chemical warfare — not at risk because of any kind of violent assault. Of course we want that also for those older than we are, and those who will follow in our footsteps. That means that we must shape a world in which violence is not considered — by nations, communities, or solitary individuals — as a way to solve human problems.

While every nation has the right to protect its people, that protection ought to be thoughtful and reasonable. We advocate for a renunciation of nuclear weapons and for a sharp reduction in the U.S. military budget now, and our longer-term aim is to rededicate all military resources to meeting real human needs.